Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C Sudharshan Reddy on Monday directed District Election Officers (DEOs) to initiate action against those who knowingly submit false statements or declarations in Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8, as prescribed under the law.
In a communication to DEOs, the CEO's office said it had noticed instances of bulk applications being filed in Form 7 before Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), with allegations that some of the applications were not genuine.
The CEO directed DEOs to instruct EROs to act against applicants who knowingly make false statements or declarations in writing in Forms 6, 6A, 7 and 8 under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Such action, he said, must be preceded by an inquiry under Rule 20 of the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
The development comes amid allegations by the ruling Congress and Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM that the BJP was filing Form 7 applications in bulk to seek deletion of eligible voters' names from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday alleged that BJP activists were attempting to remove Muslim voters' names by submitting Form 7 applications during the SIR and warned of a protest larger than the one held at Jantar Mantar in Delhi.
The Telangana Congress has also complained to CEO Sudharshan Reddy, alleging that a BJP Booth Level Agent (BLA) in Musheerabad submitted Form 7 applications against 30 electors. The party said the applications were found to be false during verification.
The BJP rejected the allegation. State BJP president N Ramchander Rao said no BJP BLA had submitted such Form 7 applications.
Rao said the SIR exercise was being conducted entirely through the state government machinery and that the Election Commission takes a decision on deletion of names only after field-level verification of objections.
Form 7 is used to object to the proposed inclusion of a name or seek deletion of a name from the existing electoral roll, while Form 6 is used by eligible citizens to apply for inclusion as new voters.
(With inputs from PTI)